Roy Jinks retired

4T5GUY · Jul 12, 2016

I called S&W about getting a letter. First one ever. No go
for now. Mr. Jinks is gone from there. He will be working
with a "historical society".
I didn't realize he personally owned all of that S&W info.
S&W say's it went with him.
Sorry if this is old news.

Aircrewman · Jul 12, 2016

A few unnecessary as well as unfortunate circumstances (and decisions) at the current management level has caused this to occur.......

S&WIowegan · Jul 12, 2016

The Smith & Wesson management is all about cranking out modern guns that people want to buy. Nothing wrong with this...any management that doesn't focus on profitable sales will disappear.

I think management feels the historical stuff isn't worth the time and trouble that came with it.

Roy will be working with the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation which is a private entity independent of the S&W gun company.

Sevens · Jul 12, 2016

Meh, this is probably a good thing. I have read a few posts on other parts of this site regarding what will happen going forward and in the short term, the price goes up a bit. However, in the long term, it's possible that -MORE- information becomes available on some of the gun requests. It also kind of "feels" like it's going to be handled by the kinds of folks who live and breathe older, collectible S&W, the fans of the actual heritage of the brand that we love.

Seems to me...
If that is moving away from the polymer gun spitting factory, the one that just bleeds M&P's and Shields and ported Shields and Bodyguards...

Well, it sounds like a good thing to me.

4T5GUY said:
I called S&W about getting a letter. First one ever.

Share! I have only one letter myself, got mine in 1998 and it was $35 IIRC, got it on a revolver (but this is the semi-auto forum so...)

Tell us about the one you wish to letter?

Sevens · Jul 12, 2016

^A-ha, just caught the other thread about your cool Lew Horton 745, that's probably the one you wish to letter.

4T5GUY · Jul 12, 2016

Embarrassingly, the stupid "interesting 745" I've been
posting about.
Lew Horton is getting there side of the story together
for me, and they said get it lettered from S&W so it's
story will be complete and authentic.

Targets Guy · Jul 12, 2016

Wish Roy the best. He provides a great service.

koz5614 · Jul 12, 2016

Thanks for the heads-up. Sad news for all of us; as a collector of S&Ws, I associated Mr. Jink's name with the company. To me, he pretty much WAS the company. I couldn't tell you the name of S&W's CEO, or anyone on their board of directors, but I could tell you who the historian was. I was hoping to see if my 66-1 snub letters as factory engraved, but I guess I'll have to wait awhile longer. I hope Mr. Jinks enjoys his new position.

ISCS Yoda · Jul 12, 2016

I had not heard this so I wish Roy Jinks well, also. He's a solid man in the gun world.

TheHobbyist · Jul 12, 2016

Things work out for a reason and I don't know the details, but his contributions have been truly remarkable to the hobby. I'll tell a quick story...my friend who was new to guns and by the recommendation of myself purchased an old S&W. Friend didn't know much and thought to call the factory...he was so happy with his new purchase and the quality he perceived in the firearm. Got his call routed to a one Mr. Jinks who spent 20 minutes on the phone telling him about it. Good conversation from what I hear. The take away for me was that even though there was no thought of money from my friend, he still proceeded to educate him about his new/old pistol because he loves the hobby. Class act in my book.

murphydog · Jul 12, 2016

To paraphrase a famous saying from my USMC brethren, Mr. Jinks has not retired, he is advancing in a different direction

.

wordsmith · Jul 12, 2016

Roy Jinks has not retired at all, in any way shape-form or fashion. The factory historical letter operation has moved from being part of Smith & Wesson itself to the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation. Other than than a new address to mail requests and a small price increase nothing has changed about getting a factory letter on your gun.

The cost of a letter is $75, with checks made payable to the S&WHF. Address your requests (no more than 3 per week) to Mr. Jinks at:

S&W Historical Foundation
Roy Jinks, Historian
PO Box 669
Warren, MA 01083

NOTE: See link to the new Letter Request Form posted here on the Forum, simply click on 'Download' and then print for mailing.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=17

David

DocB · Jul 12, 2016

I got my first letter from Roy in 1979. Called him on the phone before Christmas and described the gun in detail. It was free! Got it in January 1980. That was over 36 years ago. . .wow! I don't know when he started dong letters, but this has got to be an early one. Interesting to note that the gun was refinished at the factory one month after it was bought new. The sheriff must demanded some sort of perfection.

Absalom · Jul 12, 2016

wordsmith said:
.......

NOTE: See link to the new Letter Request Form posted here on the Forum, simply click on 'Download' and then print for mailing.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=17

David

David:

I don't know whether I'm the only one who had this problem, but with the link you posted, I get the message about not being authorized to view this page.

I downloaded the new form from the S&WCA website, so I'm good, but I'm just curious whether this works for everyone else.

racemi · Jul 12, 2016

I'm having the same problem with the link...

Tom S. · Jul 13, 2016

Here's a PDF of the form. Click on the box below and it should open in a PDF window.

handejector · Jul 13, 2016

wordsmith said:
NOTE: See link to the new Letter Request Form posted here on the Forum, simply click on 'Download' and then print for mailing.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=17

David

Only SWCA members see the Downloads button because it contains SWCA documents.
The other forum members do not see that button.
The link to the form located in the SWCA documents will not work for non-SWCA members.

So, years ago, I put a link to the Letter Request in all of the Notable Thread Indexes in the gun forums.

Look Here:
Sticky: Notable Thread Index 1896-61
Sticky: Notable Thread Index 1961-80
Sticky: Notable Thread Index 1980-Present
Sticky: Notable Thread Index Semi-Autos

and you will see:
Factory Letter Request Form

Absalom · Jul 13, 2016

handejector said:
Only SWCA members see the Downloads button because it contains SWCA documents.
The other forum members do not see that button.

Phew! Thanks for clarifying that! I'm not as senile as I thought. Another senior member referred me to that download button in a related thread in the SWHF subforum, and I could not for my life figure out where the darn thing was supposed to be. But I had the nasty suspicion I was overlooking something obvious

.

Raystown · Jul 13, 2016

Found it !!

Thank You, Brian

1775usmarine · Oct 5, 2016

So is the $75 for the sheet or $75 for each description? I don't have anything that rare but would like to get my 3906, DOC 3913, and my first gun purchase a 4506-1 lettered just for S's & G's. Sorry for the necro-post.

Roy Jinks retired

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